Special Collections

Archives

The Law Library selectively collects archival material from the School of Law, the Law Library, and from individuals associated with the School of Law or with law in the State of Georgia. Historical material from the School of Law, forwarded to the Law Library, such as commencement and special event programs, make up the core of the collection. Significant student and School of Law publications are added to the Law Library collection, rather than the archives collection. Law Library materials that are of historical value, such as programs and reports, are also added to the archives collection. The Law Library is presently unable to properly house archival materials in addition to the School of Law and Law Library materials, and encourages donors to consider alternative repositories, such as the University of Georgia University Libraries.

The Law Library endeavors to acquire every item of institutional importance the law school produces for public consumption. Included are admissions bulletins, alumni magazines, publicity brochures, press releases, event invitations and programs, audio and video tapes of events, photographs, and similar items. Excluded are internal documents such as faculty memoranda, administrative reports, and similar items not intended for public consumption.

Courthouse Prints Collection

The Law Library has an eclectic collection of original works of art, historic photographs, and signed prints. Our Courthouse Prints Collection contains original pencil sketches by Lewis Rix and Lavonia Ricketson and signed and numbered prints by Warren Kirbo, Linda Peppers, Robert Redden, Rusty Smith, and Roger Samuel Stewart. They depict 38 of Georgia’s 159 counties and grace the front entrance and main hallways of the Law Library. View an inventory of the collection.

Georgia Law's Portrait Collection

The portrait collection highlights important Georgia political figures, judicial luminaries, former law deans and faculty members, and distinguished graduates. The portraits are located throughout the law school buildings. A complete listing is located in the Digital Commons.

Dean Rusk Collection

This is a small personal library held by Professor Dean Rusk while a member of the faculty. Many of the items are inscribed by the author including Henry Kissinger. Dean Rusk, former U.S. Secretary of State, is the namesake of the Dean Rusk International Law Center.

The Faculty Writings Collection is intended to be a comprehensive collection of items written by past and present faculty members of the University of Georgia School of Law. The collection contains published resources, authored or edited while they were members of the School of Law faculty. The Library will retrospectively collect the publications of former faculty members on a continuing basis.

NOTES:

A second copy is purchased for the general collection if it otherwise fits the Collection Development policy.

We retain only the most recent supplement or update. Replaced pages are discarded.

The collection does not include materials prepared for classroom use (Check Faculty Papers).

Items are processed in the usual manner except we use archive call number tags and retain any book jackets.

The items may be used only in the library.

Author prints are added to the collection if donated by a faculty member. Faculty members may request that unpublished materials be added to the collection.

J. Alton Hosch Collection

J. Alton Hosch served as dean of the Law School for 29 years (1935-1964). The J. Alton Hosch Collection contains items from his personal library, mementos, and photos. Dean Hosch had served in the Army reserve since his college graduation and in 1941 he was called into active service. During the war he was assigned to the Judge Advocate General's Contract Division. After the war Dean Hosch was assigned to the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, Tokyo, Japan where he assisted in the trial of Japanese officers charged with war crimes. One of the unique items in the collection is a paper fan signed by the defendants including Hideki Tojo. As Prime Minister of Japan in 1941 Tojo was directly responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Another special item is a photograph of Dean Hosch in an elegant tuxedo, with a bottle of Coca-Cola, at the 1939 premier of Gone With the Wind. The Law Library's annex was named for Dean Hosch. View our online guide for more images and information about Dean Hosch.

Professor Louis B. Sohn began to build his extensive collection as a young man. He continued to add to this private library through years of working with the United Nations and the United States government as well as decades of teaching at Harvard Law School, the University of Georgia School of Law and George Washington University School of Law. Professor Sohn built his collection around situations he perceived as impacting international relations. He collected books on history, philosophy, religion, demographics, customs, economics, geography, language and, of course, law. As a result of this extraordinary effort, a researcher can assemble a full, three-dimensional picture of the conditions that prevailed as the situation developed.

In 1996, Professor Sohn donated his collection to the Law Library. We continue to add items to the Sohn Library, using the criteria Professor Sohn himself used to develop his original collection.

The Louis B. Sohn Library is located in the Dean Rusk International Law Center at the University of Georgia School of Law.

Phillips Nuremberg Trials Collection

This collection was donated to the Law School in 1949 by General Eugene Phillips. General Phillips, a Georgia native and graduate of the Grady School of Journalism, served as a public information officer in Nuremberg at the time of the trials of accused Nazi war criminals. The Law Library is currently scanning the materials which include original trial transcripts, documents, and photographs. The Phillips Nuremberg Trials Collection guide provides access to these materials as they are processed and made available.

Rare Book Collection/Rare Book Room

The purpose of the Rare Book Collection is to house materials, already a part of the Law Library collection, which need special protection because of rarity, value, or fragility. This includes most books published in the United States before 1826 and most books published in foreign countries before 1801.The Law Library does not actively acquire materials for this collection primarily because of space limitations.

The collection, currently numbering about 1500 titles, includes a large number of items dealing with Roman law, the legal system of ancient Rome, and canon law, which is the body of laws adopted by ecclesiastical bodies. A number of these volumes are hand-written or hand-annotated. Many of these titles are held by only one or two other libraries in the world, including the Library of Congress, Oxford University, and the Vatican library.

The Law Library has an extremely rich collection both in terms of subject matter and historic coverage. Presently the library is evaluating all materials published before 1900 for possible relocation to the Rare Book Room. These materials are made available to other libraries and to patrons on a supervised basis.